The Bossier banner., 1887-12-22
Christmas.

length and breadth of Christendom
as a day Of rejoicing and gratitude.
Christmas is the oldest of the holi-
days. The green ivy of nearly two
thousand years have entwined about
it with holy love, and with it's sol
emm and ever to be remembered an
tiquited are blended the sweet mem
ories of childhood. Forevever old
and yet forever young, Christmas
rules over the great heart of the
world al d sends out mighty streams
of charity. Down through the ages,
covered with the dust of centuries,
has come the angel song, "glad It'd
ings of great joy to you, good will
and peace we bring" He whose an
niversary it is. with holy love, hal
lowing all the scene, taught charity
and said, Glove thy neighbor as thy
SELF"
Regarded merely as an historic
anniversary, there is no day in the
calendar of importance so transcen-
dent as that which commentaries
the birth of Him whose obscure life
and early death changed the whole
course of history and gave a new
impulse to the civilization of the
world. A little town in far-of Ro-
man province; the stable of lowly
inn; newborn babe lying in a
manger; such is the humble picture
that will be recalled Sunday. Yet
from that manger in Bethlehem came
forth light that has spread over all
the world, giving noble purpose to
the lives of men, a higher aim to hu-
man endeavor, and bringing new Joy
and hope to all mankind. We num-
Der the years forward or backward
from that day as the turning point
of history, and it would be strange
if the world could let this anniversa-
ry pass unnoticed.
But there is more in Christmas
Day than merely a public anniversa-
ry. The power of Christianity in the
worlds history we all know; what
we feel-whether or not we can form
ulate it in a definite creed-is it's
value in the individual life. It is in
its direct personal appeal to every
heart that the sentiment of Christmas
is so far-reaching and irresistible,
awakening even in sordid and selfish
natures the spirit of love and kindly
courtesy. For this alone, even in its
merely sentimental aspect, the dayis
infinitely precious. Andit is infinite
ly precious, moreover, in it's domestic
associations, for in the happy and
well-ordered life of the family lies
the basis of social order and security,
and the nation may look for blessing
on whose myriad hearths burns the
Christmas light of faith and love.
It is pleasant to think of these
things at time when we hear SO
much of the decay of faith and of
domestic virtue. There always have
been such complaints in every age,
and still the course of the world has
been onward and upward through
these eighteen centuries. Within the
span OF one lifetime we may not rec
ognize this progress, save in some
material way alone; but if we look
back over history we cannot fail to
see how, in spite of slips and failures,
mankind has age by age advanced,
not merely in temporal knowledge
and worldly comfort, but in the high
er attributes of humanity, and how
all that is truest and best in modern
civilization is still but the ever-wid-
ening influence of that power which
came upon the earth on Christmas
Day
Because the world is yet so far
from the Christian ideal, wo may not |
conclude that that ideal has lost it's
force. This universal holiday, with